A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Love Story
by Man-lovingFeminist
Summary: Shocking things happen at Seattle Grace Mercy Death. Featuring the interns. And rather surprising appearances by Bohkee


**A Series of Unfortunate Events – A Love Story**

"She had such promise. I'll never forget the enthusiasm with which she searched for her marble in the Lodox," sighed Owen as he identified the lifeless body of Mousy, still frozen in an electrified pose, much like those rats he had found stiff in mid electrical-wire bite behind the firehouse drywall so long ago when he had started sledgehammering the walls to open up the space and let in the light to his and Cristina's awesome pad.

"It's a real tragedy," echoed Cristina, albeit a bit unconvincingly. Well, she hadn't really known number what's her name, had she? And really, all she could think was how she reminded her of those rats in the firehouse walls, which naturally led to thoughts of shirtless Owen, sledgehammering, muscles rippling ….

"What the …" Cristina was jolted back to the present by an annoying noise. "What is that - sound?" She turned around to find a weeping baby seal. "Okay, Ross (was that his name), you need to pull your shit together. Sure, you probably are responsible for your friend's death, but let's just say it was fate. You lived, so get over it. You'll witness a lot more death if you ever make it as a surgeon, so get it together. It's not like Owen here who lost 19 of his closest friends in one moment fighting for his country and still managed to function." Seriously, the new crop of interns was lamer than the season sixers who at least kept most of their ridiculous shit to themselves.

The day of the funeral arrived. Thank goodness Mousy wasn't Jewish. The thought of sitting Shiva for someone so inconsequential annoyed the shit out of Cristina. At least, there was a good surgery lined up for today. Who would have thought she and Arizona could end up working so well together in the OR after that whole Mr. Bear debacle. But whatever annoyances Cristina may have felt from someone so relentlessly perky, at least Arizona knew her stuff in the OR. What are the odds, Cristina thought, that so many of my surgeries would end up being pediatric cardio cases? Me? Cristina Yang? Well, one never knew did they? One day you think you'll only ever work on adult hearts and the next you're doing groundbreaking work on infants and children and you even end up talking to some of them. Fuck that Mr. Bear though. Cristina wouldn't have fallen for that crap even at 3 years old. If she ever had a kid she would damn well talk to them like a normal freaking person.

But it was a distracted Arizona who entered the OR. Cristina could feel it. Damn, was she going to have to actually have a conversation with Miss "Tell Owen Hunt to get his traumatized wife out of our apartment?" about stuff. Well, Cristina was never one to shy away from a challenge. "Okay," she began, "we're going to be in this surgery for several hours and we both know you need to focus, so spill it," Cristina demanded. Tears welled up in Arizona's eyes," I've really screwed up. Like really, possibly permanently. I just kind of lost my whole moral compass and treated Callie like shit."

"Well, yeah, we know you've been kin bitch the whole year, but everyone goes a little crazy sometimes and you did have a traumatic experience." Cristina wasn't completely insensitive to people who had traumatic experiences. It was she, after all who had peeled the clothes off the late and drunk and soaking wet Owen Hunt, toweled him dry and first touched his amazing skin …..

"No," Arizona thankfully cut in before Cristina could drop everything and drag Owen to the vent, "You don't understand. Callie and I had finally worked through that. I know she only did what she did to save my life. But then I fucked a doctor Callie admired – you know Lauren? And no, I wasn't drunk and I didn't have PTSD and I did it right here in the hospital right under Callie's nose."

Cristina fell silent. Well shit, even Owen at his worst, after months of enduring pain she had been the one to inflict and after she had publicly mocked him in the OR, even when drunk was decent enough to succumb to weakness with a stranger, not a colleague, and not bring that crap under her nose. "Well," Cristina offered, "Callie has always been able to separate meaningless sex from love. I mean, you stopped, right? You were sorry? I mean I think in light of her casual history with Mark, she could understand if you had a one-time crazy moment. She might forgive you."

"It gets worse." Arizona could barely bring herself to speak. "Callie kicked me out and for the last few weeks I've been sleeping with Leah."

Now that threw Cristina for a loop. The intern Leah? "well … uh"

"Yeah, I know. I know. An intern. Who works right here in the hospital. Right under Callie's nose again. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not this person. I don't know how to even begin to make it right again. Callie's such an amazing person and I've been insulting her because I'm so lost. Which is no excuse, but … did you know I was pregnant and lost the baby a few months ago?"

Cristina was momentarily stunned. Everyone knew everything in this hospital. How was THAT of all unlikely things, kept secret? "I thought you had made up your mind long ago that you were sure you never ever wanted kids? I know you accepted Sofia because you had no other choice and that of course you love her now, but pregnant? I mean how?"

"Crazy, right?" Arizona answered. " How I could be so very sure about what I wanted a couple of years ago and now actually volunteer to get pregnant? I don't know. People can change. Love changes you. Mostly for the better. And now I may have lost my mind and ruined it forever."

Cristina just couldn't stop to really take in what Arizona had said. They needed to get on with it. "Well Callie deserves better than that. So even if she never takes you back you need to stop fucking Leah. Go find someone at another hospital if you have to but don't make her be a daily witness to it. And if Leah had any integrity she would know she's being a party to hurting someone else" Cristina hated seeing Callie hurt. Before she had to think of something else to say she gave Arizona a quick kick before she could say another word.

"Hi, guys, I'm scrubbing in with you today. I've been dying to see this procedure." Leah breezed into the OR and gave Arizona a look half-flirtatious, half-worried.

Arizona steeled herself and gave Leah her best "it's over" stare which Leah had no choice but to expect and accept. "Okay, well, pay attention, don't get in my way and make sure you're quick."

"Well," thought Leah, "there is that whole magical world of dermatology. Must be loads of residents over there who aren't getting good sex." And Leah cheered up considerably as she contemplated the orgiastic possibilities.

Two hours into the surgery and things were going well. Doing surgery as if they were in a normal hospital where everyone wasn't fucking everyone else all the time in every room and were actually grownups. And then Cristina noticed beads of sweat forming on Arizona's forehead and an ever so small tightening of her grip on the scalpel. "Arizona, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Well, I think so." Arizona was starting to take small gasps of breath. "Um, Leah, I need you to do something for me. I need to you take that big scalpel and I need you to stab me in the foot - the prosthesis that is."

"What?" "wha…" Leah and Cristina said in unison.

"I need you to stab me in the fake foot. It's a trick Owen told me about. It helps eliminate the phantom pain."

Owen again, Cristina thought. All the badass, awesome things that had come into her life since Owen – leg stapling, foot stabbing, the vent ... And not badass for the sake of being badass or because of some ego trip. Badass because Owen Hunt just did what had to be done, even if it hurt him. Just doing what needed to be done because it was right. Or because the person you cared about needed you to. "Fuck, Cristina," she thought to herself, "you're not moving on very well."

"So this big scalpel?" Leah was asking. "Are you sure? It's this foot, right?" Leah's hand was shaking a bit. "Okay, here goes …."

At that very moment, at the precise moment Leah began to forcefully raise the scalpel, Nurse Bohkee, responding in her expert way to the change in the life support systems monitor, turned to advise Arizona an adjustment needed to be made. Leah had raised her arm at an odd angle. She banged against Bohkee's head and instinctively recoiled with equal force ….

For a split second it was though nothing had happened, the scalpel being samurai sword sharp. And then the blood, all that blood gushing uncontrollably from the carotid as Leah collapsed. Arizona reacted immediately to stop the bleeding, emergency help arrived, but you know, the carotid. It was instantaneous. Did Leah have a brief flash of a paradise filled with derm resident orgies? Who knows?

And then, after a quick close of the patient, who thankfully was not endangered by the most unfortunate event, Cristina and Arizona shared a bonding moment. No, reader, I'm sure it was not a little smile.

Ahhh, Bohkee. What a treasure she was.

Meanwhile, even on a funeral day, the emergencies didn't stop. Well, Owen thought, he would just stitch this incoming trauma up, quick and dirty, just like …. Hmmm why did "quick and dirty" always bring up an image of long, curly, dark hair framing a face featuring the most luscious lips … "Stop it, Hunt. You're a trauma surgeon, focus on what's in front of you."

He met the ambulance and Matthew bounded out with a man and his small daughter, about 9, in stretchers. What a good, decent, guy, thought Owen. Too bad April is going to find herself stomping on his heart the moment Jackson finally wakes up. Even though April could tick off all the boxes when it came to Matthew, it was just like he and Emma – it looked great on paper but it was all so very wrong, even if she did make a decent muffin. Isnt' that what they had bakeries for? Shit. Owen didn't have a moment to process what he just spelled out to himself but had always known: He was going to break the poor girl's heart.

[insert medical mumbo jumbo here] "Page Karev!" Owen shouted. "We've got a critical child here. And which intern is on duty?"

"Here I am!" smiled Jo, catching her reflection in the ambulance mirror.

Well of course it was Jo. Apparently she was on every surgery. And was everywhere all the time. And why the fuck was Jo always smiling, wondered Owen. Seriously, she always had the same expression, happy times, sad times, stressful times, serious times, Jo always wore the exact same expression, like some Stepford Wife. Or as if she knew she was on camera all the time. Well, if she was really making Karev happy, he would keep his mouth shut, but Owen had a bad feeling. From that first week on the job, Alex had always felt like a younger brother to him– so damaged but so much potential. All Alex needed was a break and the right person to go through life with. Well who didn't and what he know?

"Hunt!" Karev shouted as he caught the gurney. "I've got the girl. I'll keep you posted on status!"

"Likewise," answered Hunt. "It looks like a serious accident, he seems to have a partially crushed chest. Won't know until I can get in there. Wilson, I'm going to need to you to monitor the ER while Karev and I are occupied. You can handle intakes until April gets here and page me only if something really requires my immediate attention. "

"Of course" Jo volunteered as she checked he profile off the polished metal gurney rail. She got emotional as she thought how her lonely, poor past imbued her beauty with a little pathos.

The next half hour was a blur, of emergency fluids, and checking for internal injuries and stats shouted at breakneck pace, the time when Owen was completely in the zone, when all else faded and all that was there was in the world was what had to be done in front of him. When Owen knew that if anyone could help save the person it was him. The time when Owen Hunt did the only thing he had ever wanted to do: make things right.

"Okay, the girl is stabilized," Alex said as he came over to assist Owen. "she's asking for her dad. How is is he?

"Well he's still alive. He has some crush injuries and I can't determine just how critical yet, but for the time being, there's hope. " Owen took a moment to breathe. That was a mistake. A father and daughter in car accident. Every time he had one of these he thought of Cristina. Now all of these accidents were about saving Cristina's dad, as though he could go back and take that tragedy away. A tragedy that shaped who Cristina was – would she have been as driven, as fierce? Owen thought so. She would have been brilliant whatever the circumstance. No matter, he would have saved him if he could, reached that part of Cristina he thought he had reached, but maybe never had.

"You need me here, Hunt? Should I go check on Jo?" Alex seemed unsure as though he was looking for confirmation she could handle things.

"I could use a hand for a little while. You're certainly welcome to check on Jo, but I think she's capable of managing, " Owen responded. "So, uh, Jo, huh?" So unlike him to lead to a personal conversation but anything to keep away this urge from running to find Cristina and dragging her to the vent.

"Yeah. You know, we have so much in common. We both had fucked up childhoods, so she understands that. And she's hot. And I think maybe she needs me – I'm certainly better than the last boyfriend she had who beat her. It's not a bad feeling," explained Alex.

"Well good. As long as you're happy." Owen replied.

"Yeah, well you and Emma, you both have similar backgrounds. Have so many points in common. Must be nice."

"Yeah, it should be. She's a very nice person …

" But she's no Cristina."

"No. No one ever will be." Owen pulled himself together as he made the final check on the man and sent him up to the ICU.

"You know," Owen said, "just because someone has a similar background doesn't mean it's right. Just cause you can check off all the boxes … But, If that's what you really want, great, but don't do it because you don't think you deserve someone better. I heard about you and Addison and I always wondered what happened there."

"well I chickened out. I'm not as screwed up as that anymore. Jo is about what I deserve."

"Okay. Well good luck then." Poor guy, thought Owen, he was settling, but then, many people lived their whole lives with the person they settled for. Living half a life with someone who seemed perfectly nice and baked perfectly nice banana bread. And that's why the world was so fucked up he thought. Because people lost their fucking backbones and chickened out and settled.

"So can I tell the girl her father is alive?"

"Sure, go on." Alex headed upstairs to give the good news.

Owen walked out to check on the ER status. Things looked in control – well, they should. The interns may be irritating but it's not like they would hire complete incompetents. He had brought the hospital back up to one of the top 5 teaching hospitals in the country. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jo walking out around the back of the ambulance. She was craning her neck to see if she could see herself in the security camera, posing just so with that perpetual smile. She gave a little head toss – maybe she could ask for a copy. Owen was just about to call to her and warn her things happened fast in the ambulance bay and to be aware, but before he could say anything, Nurse Bohkee came rushing up to him. Owen was startled as he had never seen Bohkee appear anything but the picture of calm.

"Dr. Hunt, Dr. Yang asked me to find you. Something terrible has happened to Intern Leah. A most unfortunate accident and … "

At that very moment, an out of control SUV came crashing through the ambulance bay. Poor Jo, so engrossed in making sure she achieved the most attractive pose, turned around too late and was run over by all four tires as the vehicle stopped and spun out.

Owen and all available doctors rushed immediately to try to save both Jo and the woman at the wheel who was having a seizure, but it was immediately apparent Jo was a goner, head crushed. Well, at least she had a sudden death, unlike poor George who had suffered for hours. Bohkee martialled all nursing forces and scraped Jo's body off the pavement and carefully prepared her for the morgue.

Bohkee, what a treasure she was.

Cristina went to check on the emergency patient in ICU that Owen had asked for a cardio consult on. What a day this was turning out to be. Two interns down in as many days. Cristina wondered if they could get Leah in the ground today – like a last minute double wedding, but not. After all, Leah was most certainly dead and they might save money on funeral expenses if they could bury two interns at once, considering the hospital was already picking up the tab for Mousy's interment. She hated the time away from surgery she wasted on board duties – it was like the board took up more of time than a kid would have - but she did appreciate a good savings.

She entered the room prepared for what she would find. Even now, even after she had broken his heart into a million pieces, Owen was always looking out for her. He never let her encounter a father-daughter car accident situation without warning her ahead of time so she could prepare herself. Owen was the only one who truly knew her all the way – her deepest fears, her real hopes - even Meredith who had known her 2 whole years more didn't get the half of it. Which is why, a mere few months after lecturing Owen, Meredith had asked her to be the mother to her children. "I really should have smacked her for that," Cristina thought.

"Okay, you! Tell me where we're at with this man," Cristina ordered as the resident on duty ran down the vitals finishing with, "his daughter is in fair condition, she's been asking for him"

Cristina did a quick assessment. Ham hands though he may have, Owen did good work and he did it fast. Or slow as the occasion required, Cristina couldn't help but think to herself. The patient was stable enough for Cristina to open the chest and get a good look – the crush injury indicated heart damage was possible.

"Ross!" she spied baby seal "Can you scrub in, we need to get this guy up to the OR and see what's going on in there."

"Sure thing, Dr. Yang. Fellow shark ready for action!"

Cristina rolled her eyes. Geez, she had given the poor guy a little inspiration and he wouldn't let it freaking go.

But no time to be annoyed. Cristina spent the next hour in her usual laser like focus. Checking for potential clots, for tissue damage, for any tear in an artery that could mean instant death even in a seemingly recovering patient. Each time she did this it was as though a little part of her 9-yr-old self healed. Each time she saved a man like this, she was saving her father. To her relief, nothing appeared to cause her alarm. It would take awhile, but he would recover. She would see to that.

"Okay, I'm going to close up here and you can go report to Dr. Hunt we expect this patient to make a full recovery." Cristina said to Weepy. "Man, I'm really tense, it's been much too long," Cristina said under her breath.

Apparently that aside wasn't quite aside enough because the next thing she knew Ross was saying, "Well, Dr. Yang, if there's anything else I can do for you. Anything at all. You know, surgical, or … personal stress relief …"

Cristina suppressed her urge to gag. "Let me get this straight, are you offering to _service_ me?" Cristina was incredulous.

"Uh," Ross began to realize he may have just gotten himself fired.

Cristina turned to face him with a malevolent stare. "While I can appreciate you have recently discovered your inner asshole, you are delusional if you think you could ever get me. Look at me. I'm hot. I'm a hot person. I can get whomever I want. And you do realize I was married to Owen McFuckme Hunt, right? Also a hot person who can get anyone he wants. My standards are way up here and you're, well, I'll spare you but we both know you're not even in the same galaxy. So I'm going to do you a HUGE favor and agree to forget what you just said and hope your surgical skills can make me not want to slap you into the next state."

"Yes, ma'am," Ross sobbed as he sidled out of the room.

"And while you're at it, I suggest you go offer to wash Dr. Hunt's truck!" Cristina called after him. Seriously, what gave these interns the nerve to think they could insult Owen like that or that she would humiliate Owen in that way? Besides that time she and Teddy had mocked Owen in the OR in front of interns. Shit. She shouldn't have done that even if she was rightfully upset at the time.

She should have told him sorry. She should have talked to him. All Owen had ever wanted from her was her to talk to him, to make him a full part of her life and her decisions. And here she was again, all grown up but feeling as though she had learned nothing. Life could change in an instant – she had learned that with her father, with George, but here she was again learning that lesson again – you needed to spend every minute you had with the people you really loved. Even when it hurt. She thought she was doing the right thing for Owen when she sent him away but how much of it was because she was afraid? Afraid of failing someone. But there were no guarantees, you could make all the plans in the world and you could still end up failing someone. Which was scary as shit. So she had made Owen's choice for him, knowing he would never truly love anyone else, banishing him to an okay life at best. What was the matter with him that he had let her do that, the bastard? Where was his fucking backbone? Cristina fumed as she made her way to the ER

Half an hour later in the ER, Cristina stood there for a minute watching Owen, always in command, always encouraging, never showing the scars he carried around deep within him all the time.

Owen looked up. Damn, he was just flat out lying to himself if he ever thought he would ever find anyone to match Cristina. He was going to have to move across the country if he were even going to make an attempt to live a life without her. He smiled. She always made him smile. "Dr. Yang, do you want to tell me why Dr. Ross feels compelled to wash my truck?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

Owen laughed, "You're evil. You're really evil."

"I am. I know." She couldn't help herself and brushed a strand of hair from his forehead.

"Cristina, what are you doing?"

"Just thinking. How life is short and full of surprises. How people can change even when we think we don't have any more growing to do. How silly it is to waste one minute not being with the people you really love."

"Cristina …"

"Thinking about how this is a conversation that needs the privacy of the vent."

Owen felt the reemergence of the backbone that had gone missing for the past couple of months, traded in for muffins. He looked at her and realized he had made up his mind long ago – he knew what he wanted and could deal with whatever else happened down the line because the thing he wanted more than anything else in the world was standing right there. It would be worth the pain. "Okay, but then first I need to go break the news to someone and make her cry."

"Don't be long," Cristina called over her shoulder as she made her way to the vent.

An hour later, Cristina and Owen dragged themselves away from each other long enough to dress and prepared to leave the vent, when they heard a knock on the door. How was that possible? Did someone else actually know about this place? They opened the heavy door and found themselves face to face with Nurse Bohkee. Of course.

"Dr. Hunt, Dr. Yang, I'm so, so sorry, but I have terrible news. Dr. Hunt, I was getting something from my car in the parking lot and I happened to pass by Dr. Ross washing your truck. I just happened to mention your front tire looked flat. Well, he must have tried to change it because 15 minutes later, I heard this loud noise and well … it was awful, he must not have set the jack right because we all rushed out and found him crushed under the front end of all that American steel. There was just no saving him."

"That's terrible!" Owen exclaimed. "I'll be right there. Can you keep things from getting out of hand?"

"Of course," Bohkee replied. "The body has been removed to the morgue and I've already called in replacement interns."

Bohkee, what a treasure she was.

Owen turned to Cristina. "I can't believe it. Three interns in one day. "

"It is a terrible, terrible tragedy," Cristina agreed, "but we'll get through this. We can get through anything as long as we're together." She squeezed his hand. "And not to be morbid, but things are what they are, and as long as Mousy's funeral has been arranged, any chance the hospital can get a deal on a 4 for 1."

Owen gave her a lovingly reproachful squint.

"Or not. Just putting it out there."

Owen cracked a smile in spite of himself. She could be a difficult person. But he wouldn't have it any other way. And kid or no kid, as long as they really talked about the things that mattered, he would never regret his choice.

Alex walked a bit stunned through the halls. He was a survivor. He would survive this. But hadn't he had more than 10 people's share of crappy luck? Mercy Death continued to live up to it's name – well, at least the Death part.

He was trying to figure out his next step when he heard a sob and found Emma in the corner.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be crying in the halls of this hospital," Emma said. "I know all of you have much bigger things to think about today rather than my being dumped."

"Hunt, huh?" In a strange way it made Alex feel better to think about something else other than his own sucky life.

"It's so stupid really. Owen and I haven't even slept together yet. And I knew. The minute I met Dr. Yang I knew I didn't have a chance. But you can't blame a girl for trying, can you?"

"No, no you can't. Listen do you need a ride or something?" Alex offered.

"No, one of my sisters is coming by to pick me up. She's just picking up my dog from the vet and we're meeting our parents for lunch. She should be here soon."

"Okay, well, just let me know if I can do anything to help," Alex said.

"Thanks, you're sweet. And I hear you're quite the up and coming pediatric surgeon. I've heard your name mentioned over at Seattle Pres. If you ever decide to make a change …

"Thanks. I might actually give it some thought. So many memories here. " _Of death, he added to himself._

"You want some banana bread? I made this for Owen and I just can't face eating it myself."

"Sure. I love banana bread. I never got anything homemade until I met my ex-wife, so I'm making up for lost time," Alex felt a warm, fuzzy feeling as he took the baking pan from Emma's hand. "I can drop the pan off at your hospital when I'm done," Alex offered.

"That would be nice. I'm head of maternal-fetal medicine so I'm easy to find." Emma gave him a sad smile.

Maternal-fetal medicine, a loving family, a dog … maybe things were looking up for Alex Karev.

Mousy's funeral had been moved back a day. Everyone was so overcome with the multiple tragedies there was no way they could manage to continue with the day as planned. All the families were close enough to have arrived by evening and they all thought it fitting the poor, dead interns should all be buried together.

"But whatever you do, Cristina," Owen was saying as he zipped up her mourning dress which so sexily clung to her body, "I beg you please don't call it a "four-fer" in front of the families."

"I can be nice," Cristina huffed in response as she got out of the car and walked towards the four open graves. 'But what, what is that - sound?" She turned around to see Stephanie in full ugly cry, complete with drool, running mascara and copious amounts of snot. Cristina knew she should feel emphathy with the poor girl, she had just lost her closest co-workers, but then Cristina half suspected part of that crying was due to the fact Stephanie had seen the longing look Jackson and April and just exchanged. Plus, she had just caught the perversely amused eye of Meredith as they thought about the last time they had all been in this graveyard. Well, if you didn't laugh, how the hell else were you going to get through all of this crap.

Stephanie walked over to one of the open graves to lay a rose in honor of her friends. She stumbled a bit, whether it was because of the soft ground or because crying was causing her recently-lasiked eyes to blur. But she recovered and began to lean over the grave and say a few last words of goodbye.

Just at that moment - at the precise moment crying, blurry-visioned Stephanie leaned over a bit unsteadily - a sharp sob rose from the gathered crowd, startling everyone as they witnessed Nurse Bohkee break, no longer able to contain her sorrow over having personally witnessed 3 deaths. Everyone suddenly turned, including poor Stephanie, who, being at an odd angle already, tumbled headfirst onto Ross's coffin.

Cristina instinctively rushed to Bohkee's side to comfort the woman who had done as much for her successful surgeries as perhaps anyone else in the hospital. The rest of the gathered crowd rushed to the open grave to witness the horrible sight: there was no doubt Stephanie's neck had been broken instantaneously. At least she hadn't suffered.

But all Cristina could think about was poor Bohkee: what a treasure she was.

**Epilogue:**

And Cristina and Owen did not have 40 years, they had 60 years of an exciting, badass, huge life and neither of them ever regretted it.


End file.
